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Rabbit Cutlets

Rabbit cutlets are pieces of rabbit meat coated with liver farce, egg, and breadcrumbs, then fried and served with brown sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Rabbit Cutlets

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rabbit

  1. Cut off the legs and necks of the rabbits and set aside for another dish.

  2. Remove the flesh from the back of each rabbit, keeping it whole, then cut into even pieces.

  3. Flatten the pieces with a rolling pin.

  4. Trim the flattened pieces neatly.

Cook and shape the cutlets

  1. Fry the pieces gently in hot butter or fat for 10 to 15 minutes.

  2. Press the fried pieces between two dishes until cold.

  3. Cover one side thickly with liver farce.

Coat and serve

  1. Coat the cutlets with egg and breadcrumbs.

  2. Fry in deep fat until nicely browned.

  3. Drain the cutlets well.

  4. Serve garnished with fried parsley and the brown sauce in a sauceboat.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Rabbit + livertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together233 recipes

    Shared aroma: geraniol (rose, geranium).

  3. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Rabbit + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Rabbit + saucetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together330 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rabbit
Forms the main body of the cutlet, providing the meat that is cooked and shaped.
Liver farce
Adds moisture and rich flavour to the cutlet's surface and softens the lean meat.
Egg
Binds the breadcrumb coating so it adheres and sets into a crisp shell when fried.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden browned crust when fried in deep fat.
Butter or frying fat
Browns the pieces and carries heat for even cooking before coating.

The step that matters

Press the fried pieces between two dishes until cold. Pressing while the meat cools flattens and firms it, so the liver farce and coating stay attached and the cutlet holds its shape when fried.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rabbit, liver, sauce, egg, butter):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against rabbit, liver, sauce, egg, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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